little rascal
Senior Member
COLUMN: Nothing wrong with using corn to fish for trout
Record-Journal
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FILE PHOTO -- A trout swims after being released into the water during the Quinnipiac River Watershed Association fish stocking event in Meriden in April 2015. |Richie Rathsack/Record-Journal
July 1, 2016 11:38AM
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Garden worms, nightcrawlers, meal worms, Power Bait, shiners, grubs, crickets, grasshoppers, bread and marshmallows have one thing in common — they have all been used as trout bait. But let’s add one more food item that has been deemed controversial at the very least — canned kernel corn.
It’s common knowledge that whole kernel corn is used when fishing for carp, but there are those who think it’s illegal to use canned kernel corn to fish for trout. To set the record straight, it is perfectly legal to use. Some fishermen I know are aware that it’s legal and have had banner years using it to catch trout for a fish fry.
What brought this to mind was a newsletter from the Regional Water Authority, the keepers of Lake Saltonstall, where I fish on occasion. The item was answering a question, “Corn For Bait?” It said, “Over the years, our recreation staff has gotten questions about using corn as bait for trout. It was suggested that it was illegal and trout cannot digest the corn and will die. We went in search of an answer and found a study done in 1992 by a Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission fisheries biologist.
From this section:
COLUMN: ‘Why I’m a Republican’
“Two groups of hatchery rainbow trout were held in separate tanks and tested for 54 days. In one tank, 20 rainbow trout (average size 8.3 inches) were fed a diet of whole kernel corn. In the second tank, 20 rainbow trout of the same size were fed a standard pellet food.
“There were NO trout deaths during the 54-day study period in either study group. However, the trout fed the corn diet did not digest the corn very well. Their growth rate was about half the growth rate of the trout that were fed the standard trout pellet diet.
“The biologists concluded that there is little reason for concern about the short-term health hazards for rainbow trout when whole kernel corn is used for bait.”
Many years ago, probably the early fifties, I read an article in one of the big three outdoor magazines at that time about a gent who made quite a name for himself, using corn to catch lunker trout on some of the ponds on Cape Cod. I thought the article was provoking, but never did give it a try at that time. Back then, bait fishing was the accepted form of fishing where today artificial lures and flies as well as catch-and-release are quite popular.
Here in Connecticut, just about all trout fishing is made available though stockings in our waters, both lakes and rivers. When the trout are first stocked, they can often be caught quite readily using artificial lures on a spinning rod. But after a couple of days they become a bit more picky on what they eat and so the action can drop off.
I have queried a number of fishermen on what they like to use for bait and you might be surprised at what some of them use. Some of them opt for those miniature marshmallows. The marshmallows are usually tipped with a meal worm and when I see the trout they’ve caught, well, you can’t argue with success.
But what about the corn? A number of years ago, an old friend of mine Ted Kittredge introduced me to using canned kernel corn for catching trout. We used to fish Cedar Lake in Chester and to this day, I have never seen a bait that worked as well. Each trip we would limit out in no time at all. We did know it was legal even though there were some who declared it illegal and not sporting.
So does that mean that anyone using any kind of bait to do their fishing is not a sportsman? I don’t think so. While I love to catch fish on an artificial lure, I have no qualms about resorting to using some type of bait if that will get me a fish or two for a fish fry. In fact, I can think of no better way to while away a warm summer day that to be sitting on a chair on the shore of a spot like Mirror Lake or Black Pond watching a couple of fishing rods with a baited hook on the end of the line. It is a peaceful and relaxing way to enjoy a summer day.
A couple of years ago, I was fishing the Quinnipiac River with a phoebe and landed a rainbow trout that measured 10 inches. I decided to keep it to eat and when I got it home and cleaned it, I could not believe what I found! That 10-inch rainbow trout had in its stomach, four corn kernels, three partially digested meal worms, a partially digested nightcrawler, a partially digested shiner and some other aquatic insect I did not recognize, yet it hit my phoebe lure like it was starving.
And speaking about using corn for bait, Tom “Farmer” Barry uses corn while fishing the Quinnipiac River and has experienced phenomenal success. Tom says, “I’ve caught my limit of trout just about every time I go to the Quinnipiac River.”
Tom went on to say, “Over the years I have used a kernel of canned corn on a hook with a mealworm. When the river is running normal, I use a split-shot sinker to keep the bait down, but now the river is so low I do not use the sinker, just the baited hook. I went fishing there the other day and took my limit. The Quinnipiac River is still loaded with trout and nobody is fishing for them.”
While canned corn is the main ingredient in Tom’s trout fishing endeavors on the Quinnipiac, he will only use one brand of corn. The one where this green guy says, “Ho, Ho, Ho.” Need I say more?
While many catch-and-release anglers scoff at the thought of using any type of bait to catch a fish, if you are after some trout for a fish fry, there is absolutely no reason you should not try using corn. I queried Mike Beauchene, supervising fish biologist of the DEEP Inland Fisheries Division, and he said, “ I checked with my staff and they can find nothing wrong with using corn for bait to catch trout. It is just another legal way to catch fish.”
I have caught other species of fish using corn for bait including bullheads and sunfish and if it is deemed a legal means to catch fish for a fish fry, why not use it?
I can already see the alarm in the minds of many trout fishing purists who would NEVER think of killing a trout for a fish fry, or even using a bait like kernel corn to catch them. It’s their right to feel that way. But there is nothing wrong or illegal about using bait to catch trout, or any fish for that matter, for a fish fry.
However, that being said, I also feel very strongly that those that use any type of bait to do their trout fishing, should keep the legal trout they catch and not throw them back so they can keep on fishing. Generally speaking, a trout that is deep hooked on bait will die if thrown back into the water.
Personally, I can think of no better way to relax than to do a little bait fishing either from a boat or from a shady spot on your favorite pond or lake. As for what bait to use, the legal choices are many.
Record-Journal
image
FILE PHOTO -- A trout swims after being released into the water during the Quinnipiac River Watershed Association fish stocking event in Meriden in April 2015. |Richie Rathsack/Record-Journal
July 1, 2016 11:38AM
Google+
Garden worms, nightcrawlers, meal worms, Power Bait, shiners, grubs, crickets, grasshoppers, bread and marshmallows have one thing in common — they have all been used as trout bait. But let’s add one more food item that has been deemed controversial at the very least — canned kernel corn.
It’s common knowledge that whole kernel corn is used when fishing for carp, but there are those who think it’s illegal to use canned kernel corn to fish for trout. To set the record straight, it is perfectly legal to use. Some fishermen I know are aware that it’s legal and have had banner years using it to catch trout for a fish fry.
What brought this to mind was a newsletter from the Regional Water Authority, the keepers of Lake Saltonstall, where I fish on occasion. The item was answering a question, “Corn For Bait?” It said, “Over the years, our recreation staff has gotten questions about using corn as bait for trout. It was suggested that it was illegal and trout cannot digest the corn and will die. We went in search of an answer and found a study done in 1992 by a Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission fisheries biologist.
From this section:
COLUMN: ‘Why I’m a Republican’
“Two groups of hatchery rainbow trout were held in separate tanks and tested for 54 days. In one tank, 20 rainbow trout (average size 8.3 inches) were fed a diet of whole kernel corn. In the second tank, 20 rainbow trout of the same size were fed a standard pellet food.
“There were NO trout deaths during the 54-day study period in either study group. However, the trout fed the corn diet did not digest the corn very well. Their growth rate was about half the growth rate of the trout that were fed the standard trout pellet diet.
“The biologists concluded that there is little reason for concern about the short-term health hazards for rainbow trout when whole kernel corn is used for bait.”
Many years ago, probably the early fifties, I read an article in one of the big three outdoor magazines at that time about a gent who made quite a name for himself, using corn to catch lunker trout on some of the ponds on Cape Cod. I thought the article was provoking, but never did give it a try at that time. Back then, bait fishing was the accepted form of fishing where today artificial lures and flies as well as catch-and-release are quite popular.
Here in Connecticut, just about all trout fishing is made available though stockings in our waters, both lakes and rivers. When the trout are first stocked, they can often be caught quite readily using artificial lures on a spinning rod. But after a couple of days they become a bit more picky on what they eat and so the action can drop off.
I have queried a number of fishermen on what they like to use for bait and you might be surprised at what some of them use. Some of them opt for those miniature marshmallows. The marshmallows are usually tipped with a meal worm and when I see the trout they’ve caught, well, you can’t argue with success.
But what about the corn? A number of years ago, an old friend of mine Ted Kittredge introduced me to using canned kernel corn for catching trout. We used to fish Cedar Lake in Chester and to this day, I have never seen a bait that worked as well. Each trip we would limit out in no time at all. We did know it was legal even though there were some who declared it illegal and not sporting.
So does that mean that anyone using any kind of bait to do their fishing is not a sportsman? I don’t think so. While I love to catch fish on an artificial lure, I have no qualms about resorting to using some type of bait if that will get me a fish or two for a fish fry. In fact, I can think of no better way to while away a warm summer day that to be sitting on a chair on the shore of a spot like Mirror Lake or Black Pond watching a couple of fishing rods with a baited hook on the end of the line. It is a peaceful and relaxing way to enjoy a summer day.
A couple of years ago, I was fishing the Quinnipiac River with a phoebe and landed a rainbow trout that measured 10 inches. I decided to keep it to eat and when I got it home and cleaned it, I could not believe what I found! That 10-inch rainbow trout had in its stomach, four corn kernels, three partially digested meal worms, a partially digested nightcrawler, a partially digested shiner and some other aquatic insect I did not recognize, yet it hit my phoebe lure like it was starving.
And speaking about using corn for bait, Tom “Farmer” Barry uses corn while fishing the Quinnipiac River and has experienced phenomenal success. Tom says, “I’ve caught my limit of trout just about every time I go to the Quinnipiac River.”
Tom went on to say, “Over the years I have used a kernel of canned corn on a hook with a mealworm. When the river is running normal, I use a split-shot sinker to keep the bait down, but now the river is so low I do not use the sinker, just the baited hook. I went fishing there the other day and took my limit. The Quinnipiac River is still loaded with trout and nobody is fishing for them.”
While canned corn is the main ingredient in Tom’s trout fishing endeavors on the Quinnipiac, he will only use one brand of corn. The one where this green guy says, “Ho, Ho, Ho.” Need I say more?
While many catch-and-release anglers scoff at the thought of using any type of bait to catch a fish, if you are after some trout for a fish fry, there is absolutely no reason you should not try using corn. I queried Mike Beauchene, supervising fish biologist of the DEEP Inland Fisheries Division, and he said, “ I checked with my staff and they can find nothing wrong with using corn for bait to catch trout. It is just another legal way to catch fish.”
I have caught other species of fish using corn for bait including bullheads and sunfish and if it is deemed a legal means to catch fish for a fish fry, why not use it?
I can already see the alarm in the minds of many trout fishing purists who would NEVER think of killing a trout for a fish fry, or even using a bait like kernel corn to catch them. It’s their right to feel that way. But there is nothing wrong or illegal about using bait to catch trout, or any fish for that matter, for a fish fry.
However, that being said, I also feel very strongly that those that use any type of bait to do their trout fishing, should keep the legal trout they catch and not throw them back so they can keep on fishing. Generally speaking, a trout that is deep hooked on bait will die if thrown back into the water.
Personally, I can think of no better way to relax than to do a little bait fishing either from a boat or from a shady spot on your favorite pond or lake. As for what bait to use, the legal choices are many.
